San Lucas Fair and Festivities

The origins of Jaén's fair go back to 4 June 1473, when Henry IV granted the city the privilege of a tax-free market on Thursdays. The great fair was held in August in honour of the Assumption, but in 1805 an epidemic of plague and yellow fever led the town council to merge it with the old minor cattle fair in October.

In 1883 the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country proposed moving the great fair to October for good: August brought water shortages and epidemics, while by October the harvest was in and livestock and tools needed replacing. The San Lucas Fair began to grow and the August fair gradually faded.

The fair has moved many times, from calle de las Campanas to squares such as Santa María, San Francisco and La Victoria. La Salobreja was the first planned fairground: the City Council approved a permanent fairground there in 1949 and the first fair was held on it in 1953. Today it is organised by the Municipal Board for Culture.

The night fair and marquees are at the Alcalde Alfonso Sánchez Herrera fairground, with the Central Horse Promenade, Paseo Real San Lucas, Paseo Santa Catalina and the marquee streets, from 11 de Octubre to 18 de Octubre. Concerts take place at the Auditorio de la Alameda and theatre at the Darymelia and the Infanta Leonor. In the centre there is dancing in calle Roldán y Marín and events in plaza de San Ildefonso and Bernabé Soriano.

Epassa opens parking next to the fairground: some 500 spaces behind the Local Police headquarters and another 100 by the funeral home. There are city bus stops at the fairground entrance. While the fair is being set up and held, the Thursday street market moves to the Bulevar district.

The fair opens with the marquees and the 'Destapa la Feria' get-together on the Central Horse Promenade, and that night the special lights are switched on. Then come the proclamation speech and the parade, which in 2026 featured the legend of the Lizard of La Magdalena.

On the 18th, Saint Luke's day, there is a chilindrinas display, a national bobbin-lace meeting and a children's bull run. During the fair there is street dancing with 'Jaén baila en feria', the Peña Flamenca holds the Pepe Polluelas festival, and there are concerts, zarzuela and children's theatre. There are children's days with cheaper rides, an afternoon with the music switched off for people with autism or noise sensitivity, and the accessible 'San Lucas Accesible' marquee.